


I Still Call It Magic

by Achrya



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: (kinda), Alternate Universe- Witches, Fuck Or Die, M/M, Noct is in over his head, Power Bottom Ignis, Prompto could probably use an adult
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 03:18:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9415787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Achrya/pseuds/Achrya
Summary: The Prompt: Your character is a witch-in-training. Most of his attempts at magic fail, including this last one. Your character accidentally destroyed his ancient bloodline’s grimoire. Well, sort of. It seems what your character has done is separate the book into parts. The remaining portion of the grimoire, that your character maintains possession of, is just filled with love, sex, and seduction spells, which must be used to restore the grimoire.Or: Noctis blows up the crystal, his family's power source, and the solution his familiar, Ignis, offers is...unorthodox. Also he had no idea that Ignis could talk. And shapeshift. And looked like *that* and...look. It's a long night.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Me: I'm gonna write some smut!
> 
> Me: *4000 words later* I fucked up.

 

Noctis groaned as he peeled himself off of the floor, ears ringing like temple bells were going off inside of his head. He blinked blearily, unsure what to make of the inky darkness around him or why he was on the floor, head swimming and face stinging. He moved himself into a sitting position then reached up to touch his temple, the source of the pain. Tacky wetness clung to his fingers. 

Well that was probably a bad sign. 

He turned his head, frowning as he tried to think about what could have happened. He’d...he’d what? Come home from school. Eaten, fed Ignis, the gone into the crystal chamber to check out some things. His dad wanted him to work on his summoning, they’d had a whole argument about him slacking off in that particular department. His family was known for their summoning, the ability to reach between realities and space/time to bring things and magical creatures. The ability to bring forth monsters, in particular, was something the average witch couldn’t manage. Summoning the living, binding them into a contract, having the magic to sustain them in the human world...it took a lot of power. 

Noct had a knack for reaching into the ‘armory’ he was...not as good about the creatures. The crystal, that stood as their power source, had yet to really take to him. His father insisted it had chosen him, specifically, as the next family head but Noctis was skeptical. He felt it, thrumming with life and magic and  _ power _ but when he tried to tug on it to form flesh and bone and blood it went dark for him. His father claimed he needed to bond with the damn thing.

Speaking of dark. It was dark. In the crystal chamber. 

It was never dark in the chamber. The crystal glowed a bright shining blue so, even if the lights were out, there was almost more than enough illumination to see by. He’d spent many a night in here, reading through the information recorded in the crystal, with only Ignis and the glow of the crystal as company. But now it was dark. It was never dark. 

He stood up then groaned, swaying on his feet. He stumbled, doubled over for a moment as his vision swam, then forced himself to straighten up. He knew the room well enough, was confident he could find his way in the dark, but he didn’t particularly want to. He thrust out a hand, intending to conjure a light orb, but...nothing. Not just a lack of light but *nothing*. No hum of power under his skin, no warm familiar tingle of magic that had been there as long as he could remember, no intoxicating rush of making something real. 

Panic bubbled up in his chest but he fought it down. Freaking out was not going to help and this wasn’t the first time something had gone wrong so he knew first hand that keeping it together was the only way to handle things. He needed to think about what had happened, figure out what the problem was (without having to call his father because ugh, that would be hard to live down. “Sorry dad, I broke the centuries old crystal, my bad” wasn’t going to cut it.) and then fix it. 

He moved through the darkness, hand sweeping over the chemical and herb station then finding the wall to help orient him. So, what had happened? He and Ignis had come into the chamber. He’d been on the phone with Prompto, currently the only member of his coven (it was not nearly as impressive as his father and his group, which consisted of Cid, a witch, Clarus, a tengu, Cor, a dragon shifter, and Weskham, a Basilisk.) discussing some research the techwitch was doing while he…

Oh! ...fuck. He’d been setting up a ritual that would, in theory, help him commune directly with the crystal in hopes he could figure out what the fuck it’s problem was. It was a modified ‘Understanding All Language’ spell crossed with a ritual to grant insight; Prompto had helped him set up. Revamping and reworking old things was sort of Prompto’s specialty, along with bending any and all tech he encountered to his whims. Noctis appreciated it; the information recorded in the crystal was old, passed down from generation to generation, and it was...stuffy. Dry. Clinical. 

Boring enough that Noctis had been disinterested in a lot of things having to do with the crystal. 

They did not, according to his father, go around splicing rituals together or trying things out to see what stuck. Except Prompto did just that and now for the first time Noctis was sort of interested. He was actually entertaining the idea of forming his own coven, beyond Prompto, and summoning monsters to his side. 

If he ever got the crystal to work with him. He’d thought he was making that happen, remembered feeling the brush of the crystal’s...consciousness? Intent? Inside of him, remembered magic surging through him like electricity to fill him up to the brim with it. And then it becoming too much too fast, slipping out of control and dragging him in. He remembered the feel of the crystal under his hands, burning hot against his skin and then around his skin as he melted into it. Prompto, voice distant and tinny through his phone’s speaker, shouting his name.

Then...Ignis. Jumping onto the crystal, fur standing up, snarling and spitting, and then darkness. 

Fuck, Ignis. He groped for the light switch anxiously and, when the light came on, he winced at the scene around him. The crystal, taller and wider than he was inside of it’s cradle in the center of the room, was dark. The bookshelf was on it’s side, leather bound books older than Noctis dared to guess at, yellowing scrolls, and papers scattered around everywhere. Glass bottles full of reagents had shattered, leaving glass, herbs, dust, and various liquids over the workstation surface, the shelves, the floor. The workstation was fixed to the wall so it was fine but the small sitting area had been disrupted, chairs and table flipped over and the small couch tipped backwards. 

“Ignis? Iggy, where are you?” 

Ugh, if anything had happened to that fucking fox his dad was going to murder him. When he was three his father had brought home a fox and declared it was Noctis’ familiar. A binding collar with a chunk of the crystal had been fit around Ignis’ neck, a place made for him in Noct’s bedroom, and ever since the animal had followed Noctis wherever he went. At first Noctis had thought he was some kind of magical creature, and had spent many nights talking to Ignis under the covers, but with time he’d come to realize that sometimes a fox is just a fox.

A cute fox, with his light brown fur, intelligent green eyes with funny white markings around them that almost looked like glasses, big triangular ear that angled backwards, and a fluffy white tipped tail, and something like his only friend for years (which was pathetic even now) but just a fox.

Some familiars could be monsters but most were just animals that could be used to focus magic through, to keep the witch's body from trying to take in too much and burning out, and Ignis was the latter. And, honestly, Noctis wasn’t so sure he was that either since he’d never tried. He didn’t need something to hold or focus his magic like other witches did...at least he hadn’t thought he did. Not until tonight. But, since he didn’t use Ignis for anything the fox was essentially a very odd pet (well, not that odd in a city that was dominated by witches and monsters and demi-humans) who got to sleep in Noct’s bed, eat at the table, and walked around like he ran everything. 

Which was maybe a little true. A lot of days the only thing that got Noct to class on time was Ignis nosing and nipping at his face and the only thing that made him eat vegetables or work on his summoning was the fox’s judgemental stare. Prompto said there was no way Ignis was actually judging him, because literally nothing but a fox, but Noct knew that wasn’t true. That fox was smart, scary smart. He knew things and a lot of those things involved looking at Noctis like he thought he was stupid.

The fact he’d jumped on the crystal like he had just proved that he was just as smart as Noct has always thought. Or, alternately, was dumber than he'd thought for risking himself like that.

“Ignis!” The panic in his voice was so thick even he could hear it. He picked his way through the glass, eyes scanning the room. Ignis wasn’t a big fox, his body more tail than anything else, and whatever had happened had been enough to toss Noct across the room. Ignis was so much smaller, so easy to hurt. 

Or worse, maybe the crystal had taken him instead. His heart seized at the idea. His eyes burned and blurred. Fuck, had that...what would he do without the fox? He’d spent more time spilling his guts to Ignis than he had to anyone else. Ignis had curled up next to him after so many nightmares, nuzzled him when he was feeling down, had-

He couldn’t be-

He was just an animal but he wasn’t. He was his familiar and that meant something to him.

“Iggy!” 

A low hiss made him stop in his tracks, head snapping towards the couch. A hand shot up to grip the back of the couch and a moment later a man was hauling himself to his feet. A tall, naked at least down to his stomach (everything beyond that was blessedly hidden) man. In his apartment (sort of) in the chamber that didn’t even exist for those not attuned to the crystal. 

“Why,” The man asked in a deep, accented voice. “Are you shouting like that?” 

“Who the fuck are you? How did you get in here?” Noctis reached on reflex for the armory and shuddered at the empty coldness that answered back, an icy nothingness that he felt in the marrow of his bones. 

“What?” The man fixed brilliant green eyes on him. There were red lines on his face, three thin ones across each cheek that resembled whiskers, and a thicker one running from the center of his forehead to the bridge of his nose. He flexed his hands then, frowning, brought them up to his face. “I see. I seem to be human and- by the Gods, what did you do to the crystal?” 

The man circled around the couch and Noctis quickly averted his eyes because he was totally naked except for some kind of furred cape and- wait. He looked back, eyebrows climbing up to his hairline. The man had tails, long light brown tails with snow white tips that brushed the ground; they were full and fluffy, swaying behind the man with every step, twisting and overlapping each other. And ears, large triangular ones with light brown fur on the outside and pale, near white, fur on the inside that swept up through his hair a few centimeters from where Noct would expect ears to be. 

The tails were doing a fair job of hiding the man’s ass which, judging by his lean muscular form, was probably for the best for Noctis’ libido. He was a little bothered by how not bothered he was about checking out a non-human, particularly one who shouldn't have been there. Even now, just eyeing the man’s back and watching the way muscle shifted below pale skin and twisting red lines of ink, was doing a very good job of distracting him from things like the fact the man was leaning close to the crystal and all but glaring at it. He reached out and Noctis lurched forward, the shock holding him place snapping. 

“Hey don’t touch-”

He touched it and blue sparks jumped up to twist around long fingers. The man straightened up, brow furrowing, as the sparks crawled and crept over his fingers towards his palm. They ran together, melting into a ball of ice colored flame. The man closed his hand with a sigh, snuffing the flame out. 

Noct was fairly certain his mouth was hanging open. That was...impossible. Siphoning energy right from the crystal should burn someone from the inside out instantly, save those who were attuned to it and even then there was a reason they had familiars and covens to share their magic with. 

“How-” The man turned to face him fully and Noct’s eyes fell to the black leather collar fitted around his neck. There were runes stamped into the leather, a binding contract written in old symbols and hanging from it was a small skull carved from crystal and an oval tag. He didn’t need to be close enough to read it to know that the tag would have ‘Ignis’ and the apartment’s address engraved in the surface. He was the one who'd had it made after all, back when he'd first moved out of his father's home and been worried about the fox wandering off.

It had turned out to be a silly concern. He knew Ignis sometimes snuck out when he was at school or his part time job but he never failed to find a way back. Occasionally a little dirty but always unharmed.

Noctis jerked back, blinking rapidly. “Iggy?” 

The man nodded once, silent confirmation, then gestured towards the crystal. “Your spell released the data in the crystal and much of the energy along with it. Congratulations Master, you’ve killed a thousand year old power source. I am impressed.” 

Noctis didn’t know what a person could possibly say in response to that, especially since it seemed to be true. And was coming from his pet fox who was now a sort of hot naked guy. Which wasn't the point because crystal, killed, very serious problem but. Also. Ignis. Not a fox. 

Safe to say ‘Sorry’ didn’t seem to quite capture the seriousness of the situation but he also couldn't imagine what else he could say.

So he just watched, mute and confused, as Ignis returned his attention to the crystal. It sparked and seemed to struggle to glow under the fox’s (Fox? Was Ignis...what the hell was Ignis?!) touch but, in the end, faded back into it’s cold colorless state. At some point Ignis acquired glasses from Gods only knew where and, somehow, that was the strangest part of all of this. Ignis, the fox he’d come to believe was just a fox who was clearly not just a fox at all, needed glasses?

Why was this just becoming more and more absurd?

“What are you?”

Ignis sent him an exasperated look. “Your lack of knowledge on the monster races causes me physical pain. It is obvious you need a good deal of practical training.”

Noctis made a face; he'd been working on it! ...but it was boring and he always ended up falling asleep when he tried to make any progress in understanding the literally hundreds of monster races out there. On the other hand maybe if he stopped waiting until he was in bed to tap into the crystal’s data it would go better. And he couldn't believe he was being lectured by someone who'd been an actual fox ten minutes ago.

“Though, to your credit,” Ignis continued, expression melting into something almost…amused. “It was a well conceived spell. Present outcome aside your attempts at spell construction have been something to behold. You and Prompto are more impressive than some like to give you credit for.”

Noctis didn’t know what to do with that, the bubbling warmth in his chest, or the wry smile the fox was wearing either.

“Fox demon.” Ignis added after a pause. His ears twitched and his tails swayed. Not that Noctis was watching his tails or thinking about how soft they looked. “A very tired fox demon with a very unique charge and a drained power source.” 

Noct was fairly certain that was meant to be insulting. “I never imagined you'd be so...sarcastic.” And he had imagined, in all those late night one-sided conversations, Ignis speaking back. But he'd always subbed in a sympathetic voice that agreed with everything he said, not an accent, snark, and a desire to make him study. “Or people shaped. Which is freaking me out a little.”

But not as much as it should have. Ignis had...really nice arms. Really nice everything, really. This was what had been sleeping in his room, occasionally in his bed on nights he had nightmares, all these years? Though, mortifyingly enough, that did explain why the fox always seemed to vanish when Noctis was jerking off. 

How polite. 

“You haven’t released everything, which is good, and most of the magic was caught by myself, your father’s coven, and...someone else.” Ignis gave no sign that he'd registered what Noctis has said. “I'm not sure who; the magic is familiar but I can't put a name to it. But, no matter, I took in most of it which was why I was forced out of my smaller form. Unfortunately I will need your help to put it back.” 

“Oh...kay.” Noctis said slowly. That was good. That was great! Maybe this wasn't as bad as it had seemed. “Whatever you need me to do.”

“Fantastic.” There was an odd note to Ignis’ voice, almost as if he were resisting the urge to laugh. “All that’s left in the crystal are sex and seduction spells. In order to return the magic we’ll have to perform a ritual that still exists within the power source.”

“...what!?” That didn't mean what it sounded like it meant, did it?

“It's the only way to get the crystal to ‘open up’ enough to put back such a large amount magic.” Ignis said, face impassive. “It won't take the power directly and trying to do it normally, transcribing one spell and entry at a time, would take years and I would either burn out or have to release the energy long before then.”

Noctis’ mouth opened but no sound came out. Ignis watched him, expression giving away nothing, waiting patiently as Noctis let everything roll around in his head. Finally he managed to pull a few brain cells together to ask:  “Are you saying we’ll need to...you know?”

“There are a few rituals to choose from but for the sake of immediate results I would lean towards the aphrodisiac spell or perhaps a modified binding spell.” His tone was decidedly bland. “And yes, we would have to engage in some form of sexual activity.” 

Noctis made a noise not unlike that of a duck being strangled. They. They had to...him. And Ignis. Who was a fox but not a fox because he was actually a sort of very hot demon but this was still weird. Except not as weird as it needed to be because instead of going ‘no, that’s impossible’ he was eyeing Ignis again and thinking ‘he does have really nice arms’. 

His phone choose that moment to ring and Prompto’s face lit up the screen; he glanced at Ignis and, finding him now flipping through a projection of some spells, answered. 

“Prom?” 

“Okay, so! Um. Funny story? Maybe? Not really, actually, I don’t know what the fuck is going on. I was doing that research on Tengus for the hunt and- hey, no, not-oh!” Prompto inhaled sharply then made a whimpering sound. There was a soft rustling sound, a sigh, and a wet gasp. “Hngh- fu- That. Bad touch! Didn't we just talk about this?” 

“...Prompto?” Noctis’ asked, unsure if he wanted an answer or not. 

“Sorry! I just- Look. My crystal shard went all haywire when I was talking to you before and then a summoning circle opened and now there is a very very large man, with wings, in my apartment trying to grope me.” Prompto paused to let out another shaky sigh; someone who wasn’t Prompto chuckled darkly. “And says he wants to make a contract? Which I guess involves groping? And his mouth on-Ah! And. I am so confused. Ineedanadult.” 

“Well. Ignis is actually a naked demon so-”

“Would you like me to put clothes on?” Ignis sidled up next to him, ears twitching. “I don't spend much time in this form, I’m afraid I’m a bit out of practice with what’s appropriate.” 

Noctis refused to dignify that with a response. What he did do was make a face when his phone was plucked from his fingertips and held up near his mouth as he headed back over to the crystal.

“Prompto? This is Ignis. ...yes, the ‘cute little fox’. Yes, everything is going crazy, I'm aware.” Ignis chuckled. “You summoned a Tengu? ...accidentally, of course. And he wants to contract with you? I would advise you to do just that.” 

Even standing a few feet away Noctis could hear Prompto’s shout through the phone. Ignis pulled it away from his face, cringing, as nondescript, but high pitched and rapid fire, noise poured out. Ignis’ tails swayed and his ears twitched as he rolled his eyes heavenward. 

“Prompto. I believe your Tengus-yes he is  _ yours _ \- is holding some of the data energy from the main crystal. Contracting with him should return it and, as you helped Noctis with the spell that has essentially rendered the crystal dead, it is your responsibility to help repair it.” Ignis pushed his glasses up his nose with his free hand. Noctis noticed that his nails were long and sharp and pitch black, like claws. “You are Noctis’ covenmate after all. And you were going to contract with a familiar eventually, no?” 

Noctis couldn’t understand what Prompto was saying but, judging by Ignis head shake it wasn’t something the fox approved of. His nails tapped against the crystal for a moment then he frowned, eyes narrowing behind his glasses. 

“If you find the tengu objectionable you can certainly release him from the contract later but, for the time being, this is necessary. The power must return to the crystal as quickly as possible.” 

Ignis went silent again, listening. Prompto wasn’t shouting anymore, or at least not so loudly that Noctis could hear him. After a few seconds Ignis murmured something, too quiet for Noctis to pick up, then tapped the phone to end the call. He tapped the crystal again then glanced over his shoulder at Noct, eyes sweeping over him. 

“Prompto will do what he needs to do on his end.” His phone was tossed, gently, to land on the couch. “We should do the same.” 

“Um.” 

He blinked and Ignis was back in his person space, leaning down so his face was so close their noses eyes were nearly touching. Noctis watched, breath catching in his throat, as Ignis’ eyes seemed to catch fire again. They burned brightly, flecks of gold crackling like embers in the bright green; he wanted to look away because the longer he stared the hotter he felt the room, or maybe it was just him, becoming. 

“Noctis.” Ignis said quietly; his breath caressed Noctis’ skin. “If you do not find this acceptable I can try to find an alternative. Or attempt this alone; it is possible the bond between us is strong enough that I don’t need your...aid.”  

Noctis considered that for a moment or two then shook his head. He had to fix this, preferably soon, and the options avaliable seemed pretty limited. Letting him release the energy wasn’t acceptable and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let Ignis hold onto the magic until he burned out. And that left-

“I can do this. I broke it, I have to fix it.” He sounded more determined than he felt. Ignis continued to stare at him unblinkingly, eyes blazing. Warm fingers circled Noctis’ wrist and stroked over the skin there. 

“We should return to your apartment then. Nothing more can be achieved here.”  Ignis smiled briefly, just long enough for Noctis to see a hint of inhumanely sharp teeth. “I don’t believe the couch would hold up.” 

\---

Noctis hit the bed with a muffled oomph, eyes round and mouth open around panted breaths as Ignis smiled down at him. He’d lost his shirt somewhere between leaving the crystal chamber and the bedroom but he couldn’t recall where exactly. He’d been far too busy having the absolute life kissed out of him and falling apart under the feeling of Ignis’ hands and sharp nails roaming his chest and back. He hadn’t expected Ignis to haul him in for a searing kiss the minute the door to the crystal room was shut behind him nor had he expected to feel so helpless when it happened. 

Not in the sense of being afraid Ignis was going to hurt him or or anything like that but, rather, in the sense of having his mind completely blown. Ignis’ mouth had been soft and insistent against his own, sliding to fit and then parting just so. They’d breathed the same air, wet and hot, and then Ignis’ tongue was sliding against his own, tracing the shape of it slowly as they fumbled their way to the bedroom. He’d been coaxed into responding, swept over sharp teeth and deeper into Ignis’ mouth, gasped into it when hot hands spread out over his skin. 

He was hot and squirming, blood rushing to his cock, in what had to be record time. 

He’d barely even registered when they’d made it into the bedroom until his knees hit the bed and he fell backwards. His pants were tugged off in short order, boxers along with them; he grunted when cool air hit his flushed skin. Ignis’ eyes darted down for a beat then, lips curving into another smile, he stepped back to reach into the the bedside table. He emerged with a familiar bottle a moment later and Noctis felt heat rushing up his neck and face because, Gods, Ignis knew where he kept his lube. 

That was a special kind of mortifying. Or would have been if the fox crawling onto the bed to settle astride his hips didn’t immediately distract him. Skin pressed against skin and Ignis’ ass pressed against his cock, firm but soft. His hips jerked up and a shaky moan pushed past his lips.

“Relax.” Ignis drug a nail down his chest. “I will take care of everything.” 


End file.
